Lula hails G20 summit as important moment in history

At yesterday’s press conference at the Embassy of Brazil after the G20 summit, President Lula remarked that because the world financial crisis had originated in the richest countries, for the first time ever the developed and developing worlds had participated in a major international meeting on an equal footing – ‘There’s been no one claiming to know everything, as if we knew nothing,’ he said.

He added that although the International Monetary Fund and World Bank need more funds to help the poorest countries, at present the best way for the world’s richest countries to help the rest of the world would be through their own economic recovery.

President Lula also said that as a consequence of the crisis there had been a shared understanding at the summit that ‘the market is not always right’, and later emphasised the importance of regulating the world financial system ‘so that it is orientated more towards the productive rather than the speculative sector’.

Immediately before the press conference the President gave an interview to BBC Newsnight, which will be possible to view on the programme’s website until 8 April.